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Ifugao people
The Ifugao people are the Austronesian ethnic group inhabiting Ifugao province in the Philippines. They live in the municipalities of Lagawe (capital of Ifugao), Aguinaldo, Alfonso Lista, Asipulo, Banaue, Hingyon, Hungduan, Kiangan, Lamut, Mayoyao, and Tinoc. The province is one of the smallest provinces in the Philippines with an area of only 251,778 hectares (622,160 acres), or about 0.8% of the total Philippine land area. In 1995, the population of the Ifugaos was 131,635. Although most of them are still in Ifugao province, some have moved to Baguio, where they work as woodcarvers, and to other parts of the Cordillera Region.
The term Ifugao comes from ipugo, which means "earth people", "mortals" or "humans", as distinguished from spirits and deities. It also means "from the hill", as pugo means hill. The term Igorot or Ygolote was the term used by the Spanish for mountain people. The Ifugaos, however, prefer the name Ifugao.
Henry Otley Beyer thought the Ifugaos came from southern China 2,000 years ago and migrated to Lingayen Gulf and the west coast of northern Luzon, after which they migrated to the Agno and Kayapa river valleys and into the Ifugao valleys. A theory by Felix Keesing, based on old Spanish sources, proposed that the ancestors of the Ifugao came from the Magat area after the arrival of the Spanish in Magat, so the rice terraces are only a few hundred years old. The Ifugao popular epic The Hudhud of Dinulawan and Bugan of Gonhadan supports this interpretation. A more recent theory by Manuel Dulawan assumes that the Ifugaos came from the western Mountain Province, due to striking similarities with Kankanaey language, architecture, clothing manufacturing and design and the many names and places from this region that feature in Ifugao myths and songs.
According to studies, the Ifugao resisted the Spanish conquest several times. The groups that migrated to the Cordilleran highlands were believed to be those that resisted the Spanish colonial control, which became prevalent in the lowlands. According to Acabado, the rugged nature of the highlands around the Ifugao region did not outrightly hinder the Spanish conquest. Other regions that had similar rugged environment as found in Ifugao were subjected to colonial rule. Archeological research shows Ifugao practices of successful resistance by strengthening their political and economic resources. The Spanish conquest and a population increase was the cause of shifting to wet-rice agriculture.
According to Queeny G. Lapeña and Stephen B. Acabado, in order to successfully resist against a colonizing power, a constructive military organization within a complete polity is required. The Spanish took conquest of the Magat Valley, which drove the Ifugao to strategically resettle in the interior of the Cordillera Mountains between 1600 CE and 1700 CE. Wet-rice agriculture was adopted soon after, and extensive rice terraces were built. This was a subsistence shift for the Ifugao because they cultivated taro before the start of the wet rice cultivation. The author emphasizes that the Ifugao people kept their culture and identity alive by spending large amounts of time in rice fields, since they treated them as ritual areas to "reinforce community solidarity." Stephen Acabado states that since the village was increasing in population, the shift to wet rice cultivation, increase of exotic goods procurement, and finally increase in the distribution of ritual animals indicates "political elaboration as a response to Spanish conquest."
The Ifugao are divided into subgroups based on the differences in dialects, traditions, and design/color of costumes. The main subgroups are Ayangan, Kalanguya, and Tuwali.
The Ifugao language consists of four dialects. Due to being isolated by the terrain, Ifugaos usually speak in Ilocano, Tagalog, and English as their alternative to their mother tongue.
Ifugao farming is characterized by wet rice terraces, supplemented with slash-and-burn farming of camote. They are famous for their Banaue Rice Terraces, which became one of the main tourist attractions in the country. The Ifugaos host a number of similarities with the Bontocs in terms of agriculture, but the Ifugao tend to have more scattered settlements, and recognize their affiliation mostly towards direct kin in households closer to their fields.
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Ifugao people
The Ifugao people are the Austronesian ethnic group inhabiting Ifugao province in the Philippines. They live in the municipalities of Lagawe (capital of Ifugao), Aguinaldo, Alfonso Lista, Asipulo, Banaue, Hingyon, Hungduan, Kiangan, Lamut, Mayoyao, and Tinoc. The province is one of the smallest provinces in the Philippines with an area of only 251,778 hectares (622,160 acres), or about 0.8% of the total Philippine land area. In 1995, the population of the Ifugaos was 131,635. Although most of them are still in Ifugao province, some have moved to Baguio, where they work as woodcarvers, and to other parts of the Cordillera Region.
The term Ifugao comes from ipugo, which means "earth people", "mortals" or "humans", as distinguished from spirits and deities. It also means "from the hill", as pugo means hill. The term Igorot or Ygolote was the term used by the Spanish for mountain people. The Ifugaos, however, prefer the name Ifugao.
Henry Otley Beyer thought the Ifugaos came from southern China 2,000 years ago and migrated to Lingayen Gulf and the west coast of northern Luzon, after which they migrated to the Agno and Kayapa river valleys and into the Ifugao valleys. A theory by Felix Keesing, based on old Spanish sources, proposed that the ancestors of the Ifugao came from the Magat area after the arrival of the Spanish in Magat, so the rice terraces are only a few hundred years old. The Ifugao popular epic The Hudhud of Dinulawan and Bugan of Gonhadan supports this interpretation. A more recent theory by Manuel Dulawan assumes that the Ifugaos came from the western Mountain Province, due to striking similarities with Kankanaey language, architecture, clothing manufacturing and design and the many names and places from this region that feature in Ifugao myths and songs.
According to studies, the Ifugao resisted the Spanish conquest several times. The groups that migrated to the Cordilleran highlands were believed to be those that resisted the Spanish colonial control, which became prevalent in the lowlands. According to Acabado, the rugged nature of the highlands around the Ifugao region did not outrightly hinder the Spanish conquest. Other regions that had similar rugged environment as found in Ifugao were subjected to colonial rule. Archeological research shows Ifugao practices of successful resistance by strengthening their political and economic resources. The Spanish conquest and a population increase was the cause of shifting to wet-rice agriculture.
According to Queeny G. Lapeña and Stephen B. Acabado, in order to successfully resist against a colonizing power, a constructive military organization within a complete polity is required. The Spanish took conquest of the Magat Valley, which drove the Ifugao to strategically resettle in the interior of the Cordillera Mountains between 1600 CE and 1700 CE. Wet-rice agriculture was adopted soon after, and extensive rice terraces were built. This was a subsistence shift for the Ifugao because they cultivated taro before the start of the wet rice cultivation. The author emphasizes that the Ifugao people kept their culture and identity alive by spending large amounts of time in rice fields, since they treated them as ritual areas to "reinforce community solidarity." Stephen Acabado states that since the village was increasing in population, the shift to wet rice cultivation, increase of exotic goods procurement, and finally increase in the distribution of ritual animals indicates "political elaboration as a response to Spanish conquest."
The Ifugao are divided into subgroups based on the differences in dialects, traditions, and design/color of costumes. The main subgroups are Ayangan, Kalanguya, and Tuwali.
The Ifugao language consists of four dialects. Due to being isolated by the terrain, Ifugaos usually speak in Ilocano, Tagalog, and English as their alternative to their mother tongue.
Ifugao farming is characterized by wet rice terraces, supplemented with slash-and-burn farming of camote. They are famous for their Banaue Rice Terraces, which became one of the main tourist attractions in the country. The Ifugaos host a number of similarities with the Bontocs in terms of agriculture, but the Ifugao tend to have more scattered settlements, and recognize their affiliation mostly towards direct kin in households closer to their fields.